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Abstinence is saying yes to the rest of your life. |
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SIECUS E-Mail Alert—February 8, 2002
January Legislative Report
ARIZONA: Medically Accurate Requirement; Parental Control On January 15th and 24th, House Bill (HB) 2117 and Senate Bill (SB) 1157, respectively, were introduced in the Arizona Legislature. These bills would require all school districts with existing sexuality education curricula to provide “medically accurate” instruction. The bills define “medically accurate” as instruction which is consistent with current public health data and the findings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, the bills specifically state that myths regarding sexually transmitted infections should be dispelled and that there should be no promotion of or discrimination between particular legal and consensual activities. Thus, the bills strike out current law which states that homosexuality should not be promoted nor should it be portrayed as a positive alternative lifestyle. On January 23rd, HB 2392 was introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives. This bill would require the Department of Education to distribute a Parent’s Bill of Rights annually. The first enumerated right is the ability to remove one’s child out of his/her sexuality education class.
IDAHO: “Character-Based” Sexuality Education On January 7th, House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 36 was introduced in the Idaho Legislature. The resolution recognizes “findings of the legislature concerning character-based sex education as the ultimate weapon in the war against another kind of ‘terrorism’.” It maintains that sexual activity outside of marriage and sexually transmitted diseases cause enormous mental and physical suffering and cost billions of dollars each year and that, therefore, sex education in public schools should be “character-based.” The resolution does not define the term “character-based.”
MINNESOTA: Marriage Promotion and Abstinence On January 29th, HB 2660, a bill that would add marriage promotion and abstinence language to the state’s sexually transmitted diseases education program, was introduced. The bill would require that students be taught “the value of marriage” and that abstinence is the “expected standard for sexual behavior.” Further, students would be taught that sexual activity outside of marriage is likely to have harmful emotional, physical, and social effects.
MISSISSIPPI: Sexuality Education Requirement On January 21st, a bill, HB 1422, was introduced that would require sexuality education be taught in all public schools no later than the third grade. Currently, Mississippi does not require that sexuality or HIV/STD education be taught. The bill requires only that the curriculum be “developmentally age appropriate.”
VERMONT: Sexuality Education Requirement On January 24th, H 619 was introduced in the Vermont legislature. The bill would require age-appropriate information about sexual behavior to be fully integrated into curricula. The bill also establishes a grant program that would offer funding to school districts for qualified, specially-trained professionals in the area of sexuality.
VIRGINIA: Sexuality Education Gag Rule; Adoption Promotion On January 9th and 15th, HB 88 and HB 1206, respectively, were introduced in the Virginia legislature. These bills would amend the state’s family life education provisions. The first bill, HB 88, prohibits presentations, classroom discussions, and delivery of information regarding “crimes against nature” in any family life education curriculum. Virginia law defines oral and anal sex as crimes against nature. As discussed earlier today, this bill was passed out of the House and has been referred to the Senate Education and Health Committee. The second bill, HB 1206, mandates that any family life education curriculum provide instruction on the benefits of adoption as the preferred choice in the event of an unintended pregnancy.
WASHINGTON : Medically Accurate Requirement On January 18th and 21st, both chambers of the Washington legislature introduced bills regarding medically accurate sexuality education programs. The bills, HB 2546 and SB 6506, would require that all current sexuality and abstinence education programs be medically and scientifically accurate.
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